Ex-vice mayor killed in Sultan Kudarat ambush

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Gunmen killed a former vice mayor of a town in Maguindanao del Sur during an ambush in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat province on Wednesday afternoon.

Citing reports, the office of Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office-12, identified the fatality as Sittie Jinn Utto Lumenda, former vice mayor of Radjah Buayan town. 

Lumenda died on the spot from multiple bullet wounds.

She was driving a white pick-up truck en route to the town proper of Radjah Buayan when gunmen men who positioned along the route opened fire.

Lumenda’s father, who was seated in the front passenger’s seat of the vehicle, was wounded in the attack, according to the local police.

The attackers managed to escape before responding policemen and barangay tanods could reach the scene.

Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of the Bangsamoro regional police, has ordered the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office to dispatch intelligence agents to assist the Lambayong Municipal Police Station in investigating the incident.